Research

Currently, I am doing my PhD at Swinburne University in Melbourne in the group of Peter Hannaford and Wayne Rowlands.

The aim of my project is to produce a Bose-Einstein condensate of ultra-cold lithium molecules via the association of ultra-cold fermionic atoms and to study the dissociation of the condensate molecules into atom pairs. This will open up a realm of previously unexplored quantum physics and quantum chemistry - 'superchemistry'. The dissociation of condensate molecules into correlated atom pairs is predicted to result in highly nonclassical (squeezed) states, with the potential to form entangled atom beams.

Initially, it is proposed to generate samples of ultra-cold lithium atoms by laser cooling in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). In the experimental set-up a Zeeman slower will be used to produce a continous beam of atoms at speeds low enough to load the MOT. The atomic ensemble is then transferred to a far-off-resonant optical dipole trap (FORT). Atoms and molecules are evaporated from the FORT where the scattering length can be controlled via Feshbach resonances in high magnetic fields.

Recent Results

To be published.

Related Links

Physicsweb - Ultra-cold Fermi gases enter new regime
Physicsweb - Fermionic condensate makes its debut
Physicsweb - Fermi gases approach superfluid regime
Physicsweb - Fermi gas goes superfluid
BEC Homepage - BEC for beginners
Atom traps worldwide
A Visualizer-Solver Applet for the One-Dimensional Schrödinger Equation